Ezra looked around at what passed for a town and inwardly cringed. What was he doing here? What was Mama thinking? What had he possibly done to deserve this? This banishment from civilization to this…Ezra didn't even have a word for it. The local yokels swore it was a town, but Ezra thought the term hardly applied to Hog Jaw. And what kind of name was Hog Jaw anyway?

He turned away from the handful of buildings that made up the town of Hog Jaw and went back to his mother's side. Currently, Mama was deep into a discussion about the McClellan place and how they were supposed to get there. The man, who'd introduced himself as a Mr. Copland, and the town's official mail carrier, was telling Mama the best way to get there was to simply walk. And Mama was emphatically telling him she would do no such thing. Ezra sighed as he looked around the town once more. He had been as surprised as Mama when he'd heard his aunt lived six miles from town and the coach they had arrived on didn't take the trail that would lead them to her cabin, but looking around he supposed he shouldn't be. What was really surprising was that the coach had even brought them this far. 'All the way to this god-forsaken, cluster of buildings,' he thought bitterly.

Mama continued to discuss the situation with Copland, but Ezra stopped listening to what they were saying. It was about to begin again; another relative, another state, another exile for who knew how long. He wondered what things would be like here, what Josie McClellan would be like. Josie was Daddy's older sister, but that was all Ezra knew about the woman he was being sent to. Mama had been rather silent concerning the woman. He didn't know if that was because she didn't know much more than he did or if she was simply unwilling to tell him anything. Sighing he took another dismal look around. It didn't really matter who the woman was, what she was like, or that she lived a hundred miles from civilization. This was where he was going to be stuck until Mama decided differently.

"Ezra!"

Mama's voice brought him back to the present. "Ma'am?"

"Mr. Copland has graciously offered to take us up to your aunt's cabin. Could you help him with the bags?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ezra picked up two of the bags and took them to the wagon Mr. Copland indicated. The mail carrier collected Ezra's trunk and tossed it in the back before hurrying back to where Mama was waiting and escorted her to the wagon.

As Mr. Copland helped Mama in the wagon, Ezra jumped up in the back, ready to be hauled deeper into the middle of nowhere and meet new relations. He didn't know what was waiting for him, but he was hoping for the best and bracing himself for the worst. Whatever and whoever was at that cabin didn't matter. Ezra would face it and he would survive. He always had.

"You sure do have a lot of books."

Ezra sighed, wondering if his cousin was going to talk this much all the time. He'd initially been apprehensive to learn that he had two female cousins in Hog Jaw. All he could think about was Violet and Madalyn and all the trouble they had caused him. If Azalea McClellan was any indication, however, Hog Jaw would be nothing like his time in North Carolina had been. The moment he had arrived the girl had thrown her arms around him like she'd known him her entire life, and since then she hadn't let him out of her sight. From the time he'd been delivered to now, the girl had followed him around, chatting incessantly.

They were now up in the loft of the cabin where Ezra would be sleeping along with Azalea and Ruby. He wasn't sure how he felt about sharing a room with someone; he'd never had to do that before. But he didn't have a say in the matter and figured eventually he'd get used to the small area of the loft he'd been given to call his own while he was here.

"It's only five," he mumbled as he gently set them down by his bed. It wasn't a bed really, it was more like a pallet than anything, but it was surprisingly comfortable.

"It's more than we have," Azalea told him. "We just got two. Pilgrim's Progress and the Bible. Books are expensive and Mama says that's all we really need."

Ezra looked down at the books in his arms. In his mind he didn't have that many, not after living with the libraries the James men kept in their homes, but he supposed if you'd only ever owned two books, five was a lot. No one in his family had ever worried about what books cost, they had simply bought whatever they wanted.

"Can you read?"

Ezra sighed. "Of course I can."

"So can I," Azalea stated, twirling her finger around the end of one of her dark braids while she watched him continue to empty his trunk.

Silence took hold of the loft and after a while Ezra began to feel awkward. He didn't think it was very polite to remain quiet so he spoke again. "My uncle gave me most of them. He knows I enjoy reading."

"Can I see them?"

Ezra looked at his cousin, wondering if she was being serious. She was close to the same age as Madalyn and Ezra couldn't help but compare her to the horrid brat he'd been stuck with for more than a year. As he studied Azalea he realized age was the only thing they had in common. Madalyn had always worn dresses with lots of frills and lace, nothing like Azalea's plain calico dress. Madalyn always had curls in her hair, not the plain twin braids Azalea wore. And Madalyn had certainly never ran around barefoot like Azalea currently was. But the biggest difference Ezra saw between the two of them were their eyes. Madalyn had always seemed to be glaring at him in a superior way; Azalea was simply watching him with curiosity. Ezra would never have given his beloved books to Madalyn, he would have been too afraid she would do something to them, but he didn't feel threatened by Azalea. He passed the books over to her.

Azalea smiled and carefully accepted the books. Setting them down beside her she gently picked up each one and looked at it. Mama had told him he couldn't bring a lot so he'd limited his books to his favorites. Naturally, his copies of The Iliad and The Canterbury Tales had come and he also had A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys that Mama had bought for him while they were in Alabama. His absolute favorites at the moment though were Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, volumes one and two.

When he had been at Matthew's, Jonathan had sent him a letter including pages from an old Pioneer magazine. Jonathan had written he had found the magazine and thought Ezra might enjoy a story that had been in it, a story by a man named Poe. Ezra had eagerly read The Tell-Tale Heart and instantly taken a liking to the man's bizarre style. Even though he'd hardly slept the night after he'd read the story – he'd been certain he could hear a heart beating somewhere in the house - he'd written to Jonathan about how much he'd liked the story. It wasn't long after that, just in time for Christmas, the two books of Poe's work had arrived.

Azalea looked at each of the books, flipping through them and pausing now and again to read something. Setting the last book down her eyes went back to Ezra. "Which is your favorite?"

Ezra pointed to the two books by Poe. "Those. Mama doesn't like them, but Poe is one of my favorites."

Azalea carefully stacked the books again and gave them back to him. Ezra watched how gently she handled the prized books. "You may read them sometimes if you would like to," he told her before putting the books away. He would never have said that to Madalyn, but somehow he felt the books would be safe with Azalea.

His cousin's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Nodding Ezra removed A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys from the stack. "You should begin with that one."

"Thank you," Azalea said, taking the book from him. Hurrying to the other side of the loft, she set the book down by her own bed and came back to Ezra who had started unpacking again. "You have two other pairs of shoes!?" she exclaimed peering into his trunk.

"Yes," Ezra responded slowly wondering where this would go.

Azalea stared at him in absolute shock. "Why would anybody need three pairs of shoes?"

Ezra looked at his cousin in confusion. What did she mean? "These are my everyday shoes," Ezra explained indicating the ones he was currently wearing then pointed in his trunk. "Those are my good shoes, and those are my boots." Why would anyone not need three pairs of shoes?

His cousin only gaped at him. "You wear your shoes every day?"

"Naturally," Ezra deadpanned.

"Even in summer?"

"Yes." Was he supposed to run around barefooted like Azalea?

Azalea shook her head, clearly thinking there was something wrong with him. "Pa buys me a new pair every fall and I don't' ever wear 'em less it's cold or we're goin' to town or a social."

Ezra panicked briefly. His aunt and uncle wouldn't expect him to not wear his shoes would they? "I…I don't…think my mother would of approve of me doing that."

"How can you stand to wear shoes every day?"

Ezra was saved from answering by his aunt coming up into the loft. "Zalea, Ezra's been travelin' for a lot of days and I'm sure he's tired. Now, he'll be here plenty long enough for you to ask him all the questions you want but I think you'd best leave him be for now."

His cousin didn't look happy about it, but she obediently slumped down out of the loft. Ezra felt a little guilty as he watched her go. He hoped he hadn't done anything to make his aunt come and send her away. Sure she talked too much but she seemed to be excited he was here, not at all like Madalyn or Violet had been. He thought he could get used to her talking all the time.

Once Azalea had gone Josie turned to him with a smile. "How are you, Ezra?"

"Fine, thank you," he replied, softly closing the lid of his trunk.

She took a look around the loft. "I know this isn't what you're used to."

"Oh, no, ma'am, it's just fine. It's…very comfortable." He removed his family picture from his small traveling bag and set it on his trunk, the closest thing to a bedside table he had. As he set the picture out he heard his aunt inhale sharply. He looked up to see her eyes misty.

"Do you mind?" she asked motioning to the picture.

"No, ma'am," he said, offering her the photograph.

A smile came to Josie's face as she gazed at the picture. After a long moment, she turned to him. "You're the spittin' image of Patrick. Did your mama ever tell you that?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ezra replied feeling a blush come to his cheeks. Mama had told him that many times, but there was something about hearing it from Daddy's sister that made it mean more.

She put the picture back in its place and looked to his books. "Patrick loved to read too. He always read everythin' he could get his hands on."

Ezra stopped trying to arrange things and walked over to his aunt. "Could – could you tell me about him? Mama doesn't like to talk about him anymore."

Josie didn't respond right away and Ezra was afraid he request would go unanswered, but finally she smiled. "What would you like to know?"

"Anything."

Josie set on the edge of girls' bed, patting the place next to her. Ezra hurried over, eager to hear anything she would tell him. Before she said anything she just looked at him for a while, and then brushed his hair back with a smile. "Patrick was the baby of the family," she started. "And he was Daddy's pride and joy. I think it was Daddy that understood Patrick better than anybody else. It was Daddy that wanted us to know how to read. Neither he nor Mama could, and Mama always said she got along just fine without it, but I think Daddy always wished he could. We all of us did learn, but Patrick took to it the best; Patrick always enjoyed readin' everything he could and learnin' new things. Patrick seemed a little lost when Daddy died."

"How old was he?"

"When Daddy died?" Ezra nodded. "He was about nine."

Ezra thought about everything his aunt had just told him. Daddy sounded a lot like him. He loved to learn new things too, and now his daddy was gone and he also felt a little lost.

"Things were…difficult for Patrick after that. Our older brother Martin took care of the family and he was a lot like Mama, they were both very hard on Patrick. He ended up leaving home when he was twelve."

Again Ezra felt another connection to his father. He wouldn't say Mama was hard on him, but things had certainly been difficult since they'd lost Daddy. He couldn't imagine leaving home and being all on his own though. Of course, he wasn't twelve yet but he was close. "Did you ever see him again?" He hoped so. So far he liked Josie. He didn't want to think she'd lost her brother for good when he was only twelve.

She smiled. "I did. After he grew up. I think it was shortly before he met your mama. Our mama was sick and he came to see her before she passed."

"Was she glad to see him?" he asked, wondering what it would be like to go years without seeing Mama.

Josie gave him a sad smile. "It was her mind that was sick, Ezra. She didn't know him. Before we lost her, she didn't know any of us."

That was one of the saddest things Ezra had ever heard. What would that be like? He didn't even want to think about Mama not knowing who he was. "Was that the last time you saw him?"

Josie nodded. "It was. But he kept writing after that. He wrote when he married your mama. And he wrote when you were born. I'm glad I finally got to meet you."

Ezra returned his aunt sad smile. "Thank you for telling me more about him."

"We can talk more later. I'll tell you about some of the things we did as children. But as I told Zalea, you've had a long trip and I'm sure you're tired. Why don't you rest until supper? I'll make sure Zalea and Rudy stay out of here."

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

After Josie left Ezra went back to his bed and laid down so he could see the picture of his family. He was glad he'd learned more about Daddy today, even if most of it had been sad. He felt closer to his father now than he had in a long time. Since they'd lost him. Sighing, he closed his eyes. He was tired.

Before he drifted off thoughts of Hog Jaw filled his head. He still wasn't sure what he was going to find here. Josie and Azalea were nice enough. Little Ruby hadn't said much to him, but as far as Ezra could tell she didn't say much to anyone. He hadn't met his uncle yet, but he was hoping for the best. As for this town, he had no idea what living in a small place like this would be like. Was the store any good? Would there be a school at all? And how were five people supposed to live together in a two-room cabin? Ezra didn't have the answers and at the moment he was too tired to care. Whatever came, he would make it.